Wizards are those who are skilled in said
manipulation of these laws through a combination
of knowledge and sheer will. Wizards learn
to cast Spells, often making use of props
such as incantations, gestures, material
components, etc. to assist them in the casting
of their Magic. Wizards are the unquestioned
masters of pure magical expertise. They
outstrip all other Spellcasters in the breadth
of their knowledge and the flexibility of
their Spell list.

Wizards go through various levels of understanding
and capability as they advance. As they
gain experience, their ability to manipulate
the metaphysical Laws of magic increases,
as does the mental endurance required to
focus their will. Essentially, as they progress
their ability to cast larger and more powerful
Spells increases.

Wizards make their way via skill at Arcane
Arts and erudite knowledge. Fictional Fantasy
is full of different sorts of Wizards, from
curmudgeonly old men, wise codgers, arrogant
and cocksure mages, brash hotheaded youths,
and confused apprentices, and every permutation
in between and beyond. Examples of Mages
in Fantasy Fiction include Gandalf (in all
his colors), Macros the Black, Milamber,
Merlin, Raistlin, and many, many more.

The following document discusses means of
converting your D&D 3e Wizard into the
HERO System.

The ability to cast
Spells is a Wizard's primary Class
Ability, and basically raison d'etre. This
is handled using the guidelines provided
in the
Wizardry Magic System document,
which is a very detailed and fairly direct
conversion treatment of the Prepared style
of D&D 3e Magic in HERO System mechanics.

SPELL CREATION

A large advantage for Wizard's is that they
can create their own Spells. The rules for
creating new Spells are also covered in
the
Wizardry Magic System guidelines.

MAGIC ITEM CREATION

The last major advantage for Wizard's is
that they can create new Magic Items. The
rules for doing so are also covered in the
Wizardry Magic System document.

FAMILIAR

Wizards can, if they wish, have a Familiar
that serves as an ally, pet, companion,
and a source of mild Magical abilities all
in one. Familiars are of many different
types, both naturally occurring animals
and more unusual specimens, and typically
have some extraordinary attribute or feature.

Familiars are best modeled in the HERO System
by designing each Animal Companion as a
separate Character (typically using a Bestiary
entry as a starting point), and then take
that Animal Companion as a Follower using
the Follower Perk.

FAMILIARS AS FOLLOWERS

Familiars: Follower Perk

Real Cost: Varies

Familiarite Package Deal

The Familiarite Extension Package is ideally
suited to converting a character with a
Familiar.

Unlike Wizards who pursue a generalist approach
to Wizardly arts, Specialists opt to concentrate
their efforts in select Schools of Magic,
eschewing others in the process. Otherwise,
they are identical to Wizards.

Specialist Wizards are covered in the
Wizardry Magic System document.
Additionally, the
Maven Basic Package is tailored
for use with Specialist Wizards. The
Specialist Wizard Composite Package
is an example of a fleshed out Specialist
Wizard.

AN INCOMPLETE EDUCATION

The
Wizardry Magic System document discusses
handling Specialists inability to use Magic
of one or more Schools as a Physical Limitation
Disadvantage.

However, it should be pointed out that in
the HERO System a "Specialist"
need not take such a School Ineptitude unless
the GM determines it is required.

Alternately they might take the Disadvantages
when starting out but buy later could buy
the Disadvantage off with Experience Points
unless the GM determines that this isn't
possible.

In effect, a character might start out a
"Specialist" not because the character
is focusing on one School, but because the
player chooses not to spend points on all
the Spell Schools initially. Such
a character might pursue the training necessary
to learn the School Skills that they lack
during play, eventually becoming a fully
fledged "generalist" Wizard.

EXAMPLE: Ilan is a young Wizard whose
master died unexpectedly, leaving him with
an incomplete education. Ilan starts off
knowing KS: Transmutation, KS: Divination,
and KS: Abjuration for 9 Points and is technically
a "Specialist Wizard". However
Ilan does not take the School Ineptitude
Disadvantage and may later learn one or
more of the other five School Skills if
he can find a teacher.

Additionally, there's no internal reason
a Specialist has to adhere to the Oppositional
School concept of D&D 3e; they may just
not care enough about some Schools to bother
learning them, instead picking and choosing
the Schools that they care about.

This wasn't possible in D&D 3e, but
it is in the HERO System; such a character
would just pay for the School Skills that
they want and not pay for the others.

EXAMPLE: Lustern is a Wizard focused
on war and battle. He doesn't care about
the more esoteric aspects of magic, but
he has a keen interest in Evocation Spells
because they allow him to wreak havoc on
the enemy, and a limited interest in Transmutation
for Spells that grant him mobility (Fly
and Expeditious Retreat type Spells) and
armor his skin (Stoneskin type Spells).

Thus he starts off with KS: Evocation +
3 for 9 Points, KS: Transmutation +1 for
5 Points, and none of the other Spell Schools.
There is nothing preventing Lustern from
later learning some or all of the other
School Skills, he just doesn't start off
knowing them and thus cannot know or learn
any Spells for Schools other than Evocation
and Transmutation.